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14 Mar 2006 : Column 2157W—continued
Roads
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what total length of each grade of road the Department for Regional Development (DRD) Road Service is responsible, broken down by district council area; and how much (a) was spent in 2004–05, (b) is expected to be spent in 2005–06 and (c) is budgeted to be spent in 2006–07 by DRD Road Service on roads maintenance. [57051]
Mr. Woodward: The chief executive of Roads Service Dr. Malcolm McKibbin has been asked to write to the hon. Lady in response to this question.
Letter from Dr. Malcolm McKibbin, dated 14 March 2006:
You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question regarding what total length of each grade of road the Department for Regional Development (DRD) Road Service is responsible, broken down by district council area; and how much (a) was spent by DRD Road Service on roads maintenance in 2004–05, (b) is expected to be spent in 2005–06 and (c) is budgeted to be spent in 2006–07.
I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Roads Service.
Information on the length and class of roads can be found in Chapter 3 of a joint annual Department for Regional Development and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency publication entitled Northern Ireland Transport Statistics". The latest edition for 2004–2005 can be viewed or downloaded from http: //www. drdni. gov.uk/DRDwww_Statistics/details. asp?publication_id=158.
With regard to the maintenance expenditure figures you requested, I can advise that expenditure on roads maintenance for 2004–05 was £121 million. The current estimated expenditure on roads maintenance for 2005–06 will be in the region of £116 million. The current estimated roads maintenance budget for 2006–07 is in the region of £91 million.
Temozolomide
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many patients in each health board area in Northern Ireland are receiving the drug temozolomide via (a) the NHS and (b) private treatment. [57099]
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Mr. Woodward: The information is as follows:
(a) During the period April 2005 to February 2006 the drug Temozolomide was dispensed for a total of 28 patients in Northern Ireland.
(b) Information on the number of patients who received temozolomide via private treatment is not available.
CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS
Asylum Seekers
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what progress has been made towards recruiting additional specialist asylum judges to adjudicate the backlog of appeals by asylum-seekers; and if she will make a statement. [57088]
Bridget Prentice: The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) is recruiting an additional 210 fee paid Immigration Judges nationally, around 100 of whom will be new appointments with the remaining positions being filled by Immigration Judges who currently have fixed term non-renewable contracts within the Tribunal. It is anticipated that the appointments will be completed by mid June for London vacancies and the end of September for vacancies in the regions.
There is currently no backlog of asylum appeals at the AIT. However, between April and September 2005 the AIT accrued a backlog of entry clearance and family visitor appeals due to higher volumes of receipts, particularly family visitor appeals, than anticipated. These appeals were processed by the end of December 2005 and now form part of the Tribunal's work in progress. They are currently awaiting appeal bundles from the relevant entry clearance posts and will be heard throughout the remainder of this calendar year. Planning for the clearance of these appeals was not contingent upon the appointments of additional Immigration Judges from the current competitions.
Crown Courts
Robert Key: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many Crown court sentences have been mitigated on appeal in each calendar year between 2000 and 2005. [53475]
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Ms Harman: The following table shows the number of appellants per calendar year whose appeal against their Crown court sentence was allowed on appeal.
| Number of sentence appeals allowed(39) | |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 1,284 |
| 2001 | 1,101 |
| 2002 | 1,302 |
| 2003 | 1,685 |
| 2004 | 1,348 |
| 2005 | 1,534 |
(39) Includes appeals which were allowed in whole or in part.
Departmental Procedures
John Hemming: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if her Department will take steps to ensure that a photocopy of marked registers is kept locally for each constituency before the original is taken to storage. [56836]
Ms Harman: The Electoral Administration Bill will provide that at future parliamentary elections, it will be the responsibility of electoral registration officers to store and supply copies of the marked registers, locally. This is already the case for the local elections.
Electoral Reform
James Duddridge: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the potential impact on (a) voter turnout and (b) the incidence of postal voting of voters being able to cast their votes in any polling station in (i) the constituency in which they reside, (ii) the country in which they reside and (iii) the United Kingdom; and if she will make a statement. [53733]
Ms Harman: No formal assessment has been made in the terms outlined by the honourable member. It is not currently legally possible for voters to vote from any polling station on election day, although we are supporting pilots of early voting from different locations in the May 2006 local elections. The evaluation of these pilots by the Electoral Commission will provide some learning on the effect of increased flexibility in time and location of voting.
Some of the pilots currently being conducted rely on information technology solutions. It is the Government's expectation that if voting from any location were to be explored for future use, the most secure and efficient way to deliver this would be through information technology solutions.
James Duddridge: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what plans her Department have to enable voters with disabilities or other access problems to apply to the Returning Officer for permission to vote at an alternative polling station; and if she will make a statement. [53735]
Ms Harman:
The Government have no plans to introduce voting at alternative polling stations for any electors, including those with disabilities. However, the Electoral Administration Bill contains measure to improve access to polling stations for disabled people. It includes a duty on local authorities to undertake a
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review of polling places at least every four years to ensure that, as far as possible, polling stations are both convenient and accessible to the local community.
Voters with disabilities can apply for a postal or proxy vote. At a general election, they can return their postal vote to any polling station within their constituency, or any polling station within their ward at local elections, should they wish to do so.
Judicial Appointments (Northern Ireland)
Dr. McCrea: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will list the judicial appointments made in Northern Ireland in the last 12 months. [58142]
Bridget Prentice: In the 12 month period March 2005 to February 2006 seven judicial appointments were made in Northern Ireland as follows:
There were also 25 tribunal appointments and 272 Lay Magistrate appointments during this period.
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